St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-01-12
THE LONG AND SHORT HAUL.


that the long haul principle of the inter-
state commerce bill is detrimental to the
commercial interests of the Northwest. At
the first superficial glance person is apt
to be impressed with the reaSonabeness of
the argument, but closer examination of
the subject will reveal its fallacy If there
was such a thing as full. free and natural
competition between parallel railway lines,
and that competition was established on
such an enduring basis that it could not be
overthrown, then we might possibly find
some plausibility in the argument that the
prohibition of a greater charge for a sho rt
than a long haul would be fraught with
injury to the commercial interests of the
Northwest. and actuated purely by selfish
considerations. we might be disposed to an
tagoniZe that principle in the interstate
commerce bill. But when we take into
consideration that there is no such thing
as free competition under the existing sys-
TEN of hallway management in this
country, the argument against the
long haul principle, so far as it at
fects Northwestern interests. has the
stuffing knocked out of it entirely. The
existing pooling combinations between rail
way arrangements destroy the last vestige
Of railway competition. Under the pool
ing policy there is no longer such a thing as
competitive points, and consequently there
can be no such thing as competitive rates.
Whenever a cut rate war breaks out among
railway companies the object is not to bene-
fit the shipper by permanent reduction of
Int = Io11 Of Z
the railway companies to force the other
members of the combination to adopt its
terms. The ''cut-throat'' rate wars are al
ways more injurious to the commerce of the
section affected by them than beneficial.
The provision in the interstate commerce
bill prohibiting greater charge for a short
than a long haul would work injustice to
nobody. 1t is in exact accmd with the con-
ditions of the charters of all railway COM
panies that they shall offer equal ia cilties
to all persons alike. 1t has been again and
again declared by the courts that the first
obligation OF the railways is thorough impair.
tiality to all customers. The declarations
of the bench have been overwhelming that.
to tie effect that all agreements to restrict
competition, and to artiicially control the
supply of services or commodities, are
against public property and are an attack
upon public rights. and the courts have
gone SO far as to declare that railway com
panies guilty of such tranSgressions expose
themselves to forfeiture of their charters
All that the \ Orthwest asks at the hands of
the railways is thorough impartiality to all
customers. The Northwest is not afraid of
fair competition. 1t doesn't seek any un-
just advantage over Eastern points. ST.
Paul doesn't ask to be brought any nearer
to the Eastern seaboard than Buffalo or
Plttsburg. 1t will be satisfied if placed on
equality with more Eastern cities. That is
one reason why the Northwest can have no
objection to the long haul principle in the
interstate commerce bill. But there is an
other one. St. Paul does not want Buffalo
and Pittsburg and Chicago brought closer to
the Pacific coast than itself 1t does want
provision which will prohibit goods from
being shipped for a less rate from Chicago
to Bismarck or Helena, than from st. Paul
or Minneapolis.
The Minnesota or Dakota wheat grower
can find no fault with the long haul pro-
vision. for it protects him from the unjust
discrimination which is made on the local
traffic. Of what benefit are the low rates
between competitive points to the farmer
when he has to pay three times as much to
ship his wheat from his local station to the
competitive point as he does thence to the
Seaboard? But when it is remembered that
the grain shipments are controlled excu-
siyely by grain-dealing syndcates, COM
posed principally of railway managers, all
this twaddle about the advantages of rail
way competition to the wheat growers
sounds ridiculous. Reduction in rates does
not mean increased profit to the farmer If
there is any profit, it goes into the pockets
OF the grain spectators.
SO that viewed from whatever stand
point we choose to occupy, the provision
in the interstate commerce bill prohibiting
greater charges for short than long haul
is the wisest and most reasonable feature of
the whole measure. 1t is just to everybody
and to every interest, and will prevent in
justice in many instances where it is now
perpetrated under the existing system of
pooling combinations. 1t will enable the
railway companies to live up more strictly
to the fundamental provisions of their
charters than they have ever done in the
past The only real DIRECTORS to it are the
spectators who rob the stockholders of
railway corporations with the same con-
scienceless facility that they rob the grain
producers.
THE PARK AGAIN.
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